Leather Handbags
Stone Mountain's classic Hampton

Handbags.  Some women have a collection.  Some have a single bag that they've used for years.  Other women are somewhere in between.  In any case, handbags say something about the women who carry them.

Leather handbags come in every shade and hue, shape and size.  They are tooled, embroidered, pebbled, or smooth.  The most classic leather handbags are often the least
adorned.  And if you have a high quality black leather handbag, you may have an heirloom.

Leather Bags from Stone Mountain

Leather Handbags at E-Bags: $20 Off When You Spend Over $100

Amazon's collection of Leather Handbags

  The makers of leather handbags are too numerous to list here, but you can go to any internet handbags source to get an idea about which designers produce leather handbags.  At last check I counted 2-300 leather handbags companies

What is the “animal origin” of the material for leather handbags?  Great question.  Most leather handbags are made from cowhide.  Lamb and slink (skin of unborn calves) are used for softer products.  Kangaroo skin yields a strong but flexible material, great for bullwhips and motorcycle products but not so good for leather handbags.  Use of snake and crocodile skin has placed some species at risk for extinction. 

Ostrich hide is used by the makers of the highest-end leather handbags; ostrich feathers grow from large follicles, which give the leather a “goose bump” look.  Sting ray skin is used in Thailand.  Your leather handbag might also be made from the hide of goat, sheep, alligator, and yak.  The lining of your leather handbag may be made from pig skin, especially if it’s a custom bag or is produced by one of the major fashion houses. 

Deer skin is one of toughest and durable sources, and relatively rare, so commands a high price. 

If your bag is “full-grain,” you have a leather handbag made from the finest raw material; the grain is in its natural state.  Other finishes include corrected-grain or top-grain; suede (a single thickness of hide); buckskin (altered by fatty substances and smoked heavily to preserve it); patent leather (given a high gloss, usually by a plastic coating—the process was developed in 1818 by New Jersey inventor Seth Boyden); Nubuck (a velvety cowhide made by buffing the grain). 

The material for your leather handbag comes from a process that includes tanning and crusting.  Briefly, tanning is what keeps your leather handbag from rotting when it gets rained on.  In crusting, the hide/skin is thinned, retanned and lubricated.  Coloring may be included.  Drying and softening follow.  A surface coating may be applied as a finish, depending on the features of your leather handbag, such as black dye.

Pocketbook, clutch, purse, satchel, hobo, cross-body, tote, shoulder bag, flap, bucket, wristlet, mini, backpack, midi, double handle, multi, zip top, attaché, computer case: Whatever you want, you can get here the leather handbags that fit you best.